So there's still videos to be uploaded to get the site back to 100% working order after the YouTube account termination last month. I think I have every Amazing Strangers edition as far back as page 78 fully operational. Now it's just about plunging back into stored-away external harddrives to find & re-edit some of the classics, while coming to grips with the loss of others. This winter that'll definitely be the project at hand. Your patience with that I'm sure is granted.

But for now, if you ever wondered what an afternoon hanging out with Inna might be like, today's FEATURED VIDEO is your official warning!

What he didn't tell you is that when he bought that shirt online they got his order wrong, shipped him the one with the small emblem over the left pocket instead of the giant one front & center, exactly like the one OCD had on just the other day!

Well, those kinds of shopping hassles don't happen when you're at Union Square.

At Union the customer comes first, and the price is always right, and you're also helping the environment! ... Probably.

Fart Smeller
Photo & Video by Normal Bob

I don't know about bringing on world peace, or helping women's rights, but I do know this latest mission might have finally resolved one of the growing issues we've had with Roman.

You see, no one knows who the hell you're talking about when you say "Roman got thrown out of the park yesterday!"
Or someone else says, "You missed it! That 'pervert guy' came to the park NAKED last weekend!" And I'm like, "Who?"

Some people call him "The Face-sitter," but that's not right. He doesn't sit on faces. And the "Sit-on-my-face-guy" does not roll of the tongue. There are several scarred girls who will directly attest to this.

Fart Smeller.
Now that has a ring to it! And Christ, does it paint a picture.

In the above video, the girl in the fringed shirt told me on camera that it was alright to post her on YouTube. Then about 15 minutes later she came back with an angry girlfriend who very sternly told me "She DOES NOT agree to be posted! ALRIGHT? GOT IT?!" (Which is why her head's chopped off the screen.)

THAT, my friends, is precisely the reaction his name should provoke! And I think that at least this particular human rights issue has been solved, by the Fart Smeller.

Griswolds
Photos by Normal Bob

One thing a lot of New Yorkers don't understand, especially ones who've lived here their whole life, is what the rest of the United States is mostly like. And when I point out Griswolds as an example, they say to me "Nah! They're just trying to be funny, because they're on vacation. They're not serious."
Then I tell the New Yorker, "No. You don't understand. This is all very very real. They're serious, and they take it serious. They actually like those shorts, and that woman got that purse on purpose, and the kids WANTED those shirts, and back home they're admired and praised aloud for being this way! And their facial expressions express how they actually feel inside!"

If the New Yorker refuses to believe what I am telling them I usually just drop it. There are some realities of the world the human mind just isn't equipped to process. And Christ, I don't want to send anyone to the hospital.

Lady on Religion
Video by Normal Bob

One of the best things an active opponent to religion (or any cause, for that matter) can do for oneself is listen to how someone else from a different walk of life delivers their attack.

Not only can it broaden your perspective and enhance your own arguments, but it also has the power to inspire beyond what you might have thought possible! And in regards to this woman's speech, I don't think I was alone in this.

Shaggy vs Preacher Man
Video by Normal Bob

Everyone has their own way of dealing with the park preachers. This is Shaggy's.

Mr. Natural
Photo by Normal Bob

I am a serious star-fucker. I can see a celebrity coming at me from blocks away, and like it or not I can't help myself from watching what they do and where they go. And I'm even better when they're someone I admire, which is exactly what happened the other day when I saw none other than Mr. Natural himself on the DL strolling through Union Square. And any friend of Crumb's is a star in my eyes.

Day Day
Photo by Normal Bob

Day Day has indeed NOT been hanging around Union Square as much as he used to! When this happens people always ask me "Does that mean he has to come off the card?"

The answer to that question is simple. There are some Amazing Strangers who've made such an impact at the park it takes more than them simply not showing up for a few months to get them removed from it.

Day Day is one of those.

Signs' Law
Video by Normal Bob

Signs does not like other bums. He'll tell you he's the only bum at Union who's been given special permission by the police themselves to panhandle at Union Square, which in Sign's mind makes him an honorary policeman, and he illustrates this illusion on a regular basis to the dismay of the other bums who try to panhandle here.

Shaggy still runs the park
Video by Normal Bob

Just in case you still had any doubt, Shaggy is still running the park best he can.